Girlfriend of PGA Tour golfer starts trouble about not flying private after $7.5m payday

Sahith Theegala’s girlfriend, Juju Julianna, humorously expressed her disappointment after her boyfriend opted not to upgrade their flight, despite his $7.5 million payday at the Tour Championship.

Juju, who is also a swimmer, shared a lighthearted TikTok video during their commercial flight home, poking fun at the situation. In the video, she showed the cramped seating space, with the caption, “When my bf wins $7.5m in FedEx Cup and we don’t fly private home.”

Theegala had made headlines recently at the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake, where he called a two-shot penalty on himself during the tournament. The incident occurred on the third hole, where Theegala believed he disturbed his lie in a fairway bunker during his backswing. Despite consulting with his playing partner, Xander Schauffele, and a rules official, the footage remained inconclusive. However, Theegala’s honesty led him to take the penalty, which ultimately cost him $2.5 million in prize money. Without the penalty, he would have tied for third place with Collin Morikawa.

Over the weekend, Theegala and Juju posted another TikTok video in which the golfer explained his decision to take the penalty. Theegala shared that he followed his instinct, believing he had moved a few grains of sand with his club. “At the end of the day, I’ve played so much golf,” Theegala said. “You kind of just trust your intuition and gut, and right away I thought I moved some sand there. I’m in the 90s per cent that I thought I moved some sand. I’d sleep a lot better if I saw some clear image of me moving the sand. I really think I did move the sand. It’s just an unfortunate rule. But what are you going to do, take the two shots on the chin and just roll with it.”

Following his performance, Theegala has reached a career-high ranking of 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has qualified for the upcoming Presidents Cup and is a strong contender to make his Ryder Cup debut next year for Team USA if he continues his impressive form.